Gargamel (Empath stories)
"I'll get you, I'll get all of you if that's the last thing I ever do!" Gargamel (full name Gargamel L'Féroce, "Gargamel the Fierce") was the main antagonist who, along with his cat Azrael and later with a young apprentice named Scruple, continued to plot against the Smurfs in order to capture and/or destroy them. His appearance in the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series was mostly limited to the novel and whatever stories took place before Empath's final return from Psychelia. History Gargamel was born the son of a sorcerer named Garthalamos who was struggling to make a name for himself and support his wife with the discovery of the Philosopher's Stone, which he was unable to achieve in his lifetime. His frustration was vented out on both Gargamel and his twin brother Gourmelin, the former of whom simply wanted to follow in his father's footsteps to become a powerful sorcerer, while the latter decided to leave home and become a traveler and a poet. It was through the support of his godfather Lord Balthazar that Gargamel was admitted into the Sorcerer's Guild, but even though he managed to pass his classes with sufficient grades, Gargamel still couldn't make a name for himself as a sorcerer after graduation and was considered just as worthless as his father by his own mother, who both ended up leaving her on separate occasions. All this frustration and rejection eventually wore down Gargamel's spirit, making him so bitter and hateful that he would do anything to prove himself, no matter how dangerous it may be for others. Unlike his cartoon show counterpart, his first encounter with the Smurfs was five years prior to Empath's final return to the Smurf Village, when Gargamel sought to capture a Smurf to complete the formula for the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. The Smurfs, after finding out from Brainy Smurf that Nabby was the Smurf captured by Gargamel, had staked out the wizard's castle in order to find a way to break Nabby out of his cage before sunrise. However, as all the Smurfs' attempts to free Nabby before that time came to nothing, they resorted to attacking Gargamel directly until he fell unconscious, allowing them to escape to the village with Nabby. Gargamel, upon awakening, tried to use a formula that he thought would turn him into a giant in order to find the Smurfs, but instead the formula shrank him to Smurf-size, making him realize that the Smurfs had switched the contents of his bottles. Since then the evil wizard sought to get his revenge on the Smurfs. One of his first attempts to do so was the creation of Smurfette, who sprang from his observations that there were no female Smurfs among them to create a new generation of Smurfs with. Smurfette was intended to destroy them from within through her charms. Papa Smurf, however, foiled Gargamel's plan by using his magic to transform her into a real Smurf. Throughout the course of the next five years, Gargamel would come up with a new plan to capture or destroy the Smurfs, all of which would be thwarted time and again. Scruple became his apprentice after the Sorcerer's Guild headmaster Dean Albus dumped the unruly student upon the wizard, though any possibility that he may be Gargamel's nephew is totally annulled in the story series. Upon Empath's final return from Psychelia and his first encounter with the Smurf in question, Gargamel decided that his patience with dealing with the Smurfs has run out and sought the Great Book Of Spells for solving this dilemma; it gave him the Gauntlets Of Gantharros, which enabled him to create powerful magic armor that would grant the evil wizard incredible powers of an unprecedented scale. With the gauntlets, Gargamel overpowered Empath and captured up to half the Smurf population, threatening to destroy the rest of the Smurfs if they don't surrender themselves to him before sundown. Empath, however, learned of the weakness of the gauntlets from Brainy's studying and, using his mindlinking ability with his fellow Smurfs, caused the gauntlets and the armor created by them to be destroyed. With his protection gone, Gargamel was soundly bested by Empath and forced to surrender, promising to leave the Smurf forest forever with his cat and apprentice. Yet even as Gargamel left, he still vowed that he would get his revenge on the Smurfs someday when they least expect it. Gargamel appears one final time in holographic form as part of an Imaginarium fantasy setting that was used as a set-up for Empath's bachelor party in "Empath's Wedding". Personality "Ravage the land as never before, total destruction from mountain to shore" : - Quote from "The Smurfic Games" "In that day, my revenge will be so terrible, Smurfs will regret that they ever crossed Gargamel." : - Gargamel's personal rant at the end of "Gargamel's First Catch" in the EMPATH story series. Gargamel's behavior and personality is identical to that of his cartoon show counterpart. He not only despises Smurfs, he also despises all the traits they exhibit, such as kindness, goodness, generosity, mercy, genuine affection, good humor, and happiness. To that end he would do anything to be totally rid of the Smurfs for good, whether it's to turn them into gold, to eat them, or totally destroy them. Even before the Smurfs gave him a reason to seek revenge, he was a man bent on seeking power and control over everything, using his skills as a sorcerer and an alchemist for evil purposes. Few among the Smurfs genuinely care to see Gargamel change for the better, though for all the mercy they have shown unto him in times when he needed it (such as the time in "For The Love Of Gargamel" when he accidentally turned himself and Azrael into stone by his own petrifying formula), he rarely if ever reciprocates. He would only help the Smurfs if he could get something from the deal that would benefit him. Gargamel is not particularly fond of his mother Grisella L'Féroce, whom he constantly refers to as Mummy, visiting him and meddling in his affairs, but will not turn down her help if it's for the goal of capturing or destroying the Smurfs. He also has a few cousins: Argus, Sagratamabarb, and Barbapapa. Of the three, Argus and Sagratamabarb were sorcerers while Barbapapa was a vendor in charge of The King's beach. Argus, the elderly cousin, refused to let Gargamel have anything of his from his castle, and purposely made everything in the castle disappear when he died. However, Gargamel did get a hold of the Medallion Of Poseidon as well as a book on how to activate its power. Of the Smurfs he has personally interacted with, Gargamel finds Brainy, Jokey, Tapper, and the Smurflings to be the most annoying, although Tapper means no ill will toward Gargamel and has often prayed for his soul to be saved even after he moved out of the Smurf Forest. Unfortunately, Gargamel is turned off by the idea of being a Christian no matter how nice a Christian actually is toward him. Relationships * The Smurfs are considered his lifelong enemies. * Smurfette is his only Smurf creation whom he both despises for being a traitor and yet constantly goes after, sometimes referring to her as "his daughter" much like his live-action and CGI film counterparts. * Sassette is a real Smurf who mistakenly referred to Gargamel as her father when she once believed that she was also a creation of Gargamel. He found that particular confusion to be as annoying as Sassette herself. * Vexy and Hackus were imagined creations of Gargamel -- in other words, hallucinations -- at the time when Smurfette was under the influence of concentrated smurfnip. * Azrael is his pet cat, whom he treats with equal parts affection and disgust, often serving as a convenient target for his anger. * Scruple is his apprentice, who is also treated the same as with Azrael. * Grisella L'Feroce is his mother. He isn't particularly fond of her meddling in his life. * Lord Balthazar is his godfather, who he reluctantly turns to when he requires someone of lesser moral reservations to help him go after the Smurfs, though at times his methods can be rather excessive. * Gourmelin is his twin brother, whom he despised for leaving home years ago to become a traveler and a poet. Abilities Gargamel is a very competent if not masterful sorcerer and alchemist who is fully capable of creating all sorts of inventions for capturing and potentially destroying Smurfs. For inventions that are beyond his own abilities to create, he usually turns to the Great Book Of Spells for assistance, though it rarely gives him exactly what he wants, nor does what he gets ever works out in his favor. Weaknesses Gargamel is usually done in by the very inventions and spells that he uses against the Smurfs. He is also rather powerless against the mindlink that Empath uses in conjunction with the Smurfs against him. Clothing And Appearance Gargamel generally wore a black wizard's robe that is patched in places with red shoes. His hair is noticeably a bit longer and wilder than either his comic book or cartoon show counterparts, and his face is rather gaunt, as if he has hardly eaten since he has lived in the forest. Otherwise, his head is balding, and he has very few teeth left in his mouth, probably due to the poor hygiene consistent with having to eke out a meager living as a sorcerer. Age-wise, Gargamel was in his mid-thirties when he was removed from the Smurf Forest, but poor hygiene and living conditions has made him age about twenty or so years. His physique as a human is mostly slim with a paunchy stomach, as he rarely concerns himself with maintaining his physical health. Trivia * Because the events of the comic book story "The Smurfnapper" are considered canonical in the EMPATH story series as far as Gargamel's first encounter with the Smurfs, the cartoon show episode "Gargamel's Time Trip" in Season 5 would be non-canonical. * One of Gargamel's ancestors is Judas Iscariot, the legendary betrayer of Jesus Christ. * Like his cartoon show counterpart, Gargamel's birthday is on October 31, the same day as Jokey Smurf. * His cousin Argus is from the cartoon special "The Smurfic Games", Sagratamabarb is from the comic book story of the same name, and Barbapapa is from the comic book stories "The Smurf Vacation" and "Smurf Surfers". His twin brother Gourmelin is from the comic book story "Gargamel's Twin Brother". Voice Actor His desired voice actor would be Hank Azaria, who played the character in the 2011 Smurfs movie. Another candidate would be Rainn Wilson, who voiced the character in Smurfs: The Lost Village. 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